The St.George Queensland Reds have continued to bolster their coaching staff for 2019 with the appointment of Peter Ryan as Defence Coach.

A dual-code premiership-winning player, Ryan will call Ballymore home for the next two years after signing a deal with the Reds through 2020.

His appointment follows last month’s announcement of high-performance specialist Jim McKay as the Reds new Attack Coach for the next two seasons.

Ryan’s playing career began at the Brisbane Broncos where he played with Reds Head Coach Brad Thorn and said he was excited to now work alongside him at the Reds.

“Brad and I have worked together on-and-off the field for many years and his role at the Reds played a big part in my decision to come to Ballymore. We have very similar views on rugby and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in with this group of Queenslanders,” said Ryan.

Reds Head Coach Brad Thorn said: “He’s a great guy, a Queenslander and his work in defence is an area I’m really passionate about.

“I’ve known him since 1994 when we played at the Broncos together. We had great success over the years, including winning the title in 2006 when I was still playing and he was in the defence role at the club.

“He was a tough operator as a player and I know he’ll bring that attitude and hard edge as a Defence Coach here at the Queensland Reds,” Thorn added.

Ryan joined the Broncos in 1989 and played for 11 seasons, including being a part of four Broncos’ premiership campaigns in 1992, 1993, 1997 and 1998.

He also played State of Origin football and represented the Queensland Maroons in 1997 and 1998.

Following his rugby league career, Ryan made the switch to rugby and joined the ACT Brumbies where he played in two Grand Finals and was a key part of their 2001 Super Rugby premiership campaign.

Ryan and Thorn are two of only four players in history to win a title with both an NRL and Super Rugby Club – Thorn with the Broncos (’97, ’98, ’00, ’06) and Crusaders (’08) and Ryan with the Broncos (’92, ’93, ’97, ’98) and Brumbies (’01).

Upon hanging-up his boots, Ryan returned to the Broncos for five seasons as an Assistant Coach and with the North Queensland Cowboys for three years in the same role.

He then moved back to Canberra where he was the Brumbies Defence Coach from 2015.

“His relationship with Brad has been forged over many years on the field and they share similar philosophies about the way Rugby should be played.

“Today’s appointment compliments last week’s announcement of Jim McKay as Reds Attack Coach and underlines that the QRU has a focus on surrounding Brad with experienced coaches who will continue to develop the quality playing talent that is coming through the Queensland system,” Hanham said.